Kanye West Biography & News

Kanye West Details

About Kanye West

Kanye says 'I do'

Kanye West is officially off the market, having exchanged "I dos" with Kim Kardashian in a fairy tale ceremony on May 24, 2014. Kanye said weeks later the pair would always be in a honeymoon period, but the honeymoon didn't last with his fans.

West recently returned to Manchester, Tennessee to headline at Bonnaroo and was greeted with port-a-potties and fences spray painted with "F--- Kanye" and "#Gay Fish." He later stopped songs multiple times to deliver speeches, randomly start chants and shout "where the press at?"
In one of the most bizarre parts of the night, West said, "I ain't going after nobody on the radio. I'm goin' after Shakespeare. Walt Disney. Mozart. Henry Ford. Howard Hughes. David Sterns. Elon Musk. You can only achieve as high as your dreams." He also described himself as "humble," leading at least one leading national publication to poke fun at the star.

For those who remember, West also earned the wrath of the Bonnaroo audience back in 2008 when he showed up hours late to his own performance (causing fans to spend hours waiting in 100 degree heat) and only performed a portion of his scheduled set.

West also recently spoke at the Cannes Lions Festival, talking about the idea of brands and the current state of the Internet. He'll play a number of overseas dates beginning June 28 at the Bravalla Festival in Norrkoping. He'll also hit Marlay Park in Dublin, and play two dates at the Wireless Festival in England. The Australian leg of his tour begins September 5 in Perth at the Perth Arena.

Kanye West debuts "Yeezus" (Updated August 16, 2013)

Kanye West is never bored because he's never home. Or at least it seems that way, as sessions for West's six studio album began to take shape back in the spring of 2013 inside a Paris hotel. With anticipation at an all-time high, West not only tackled the project head-on, once it was finished he broke it apart again just two weeks shy of its due date. The reason? A noted perfectionist, Kanye suddenly favored a more minimalist approach to the recording he thought was missing the first time around.

Was the extra effort worth it? (And with Kanye West involved, is this even a question?) The album, "Yeezus," was released on June 18, 2013 and garnered rave reviews from critics. It became the rapper's sixth consecutive No. 1 debut, featuring guest appearances from Assassin and King L., as well as Justin Vernon, Frank Ocean, Chief Keef, Kid Cudi and more. It also topped the charts in 30 other countries, including Australia and the UK, though not without controversy over lyrics on the project deemed insensitive and "distasteful" for a reference to a woman suffering from Parkinson's disease in the song "On Sight," as well as titles like "Black Skinhead" and "New Slave."

Of course a new album wasn't the only thing going on in Kanye's life. On June 15, 2013 Kim Kardashian gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter they named North West. By June the couple had reportedly turned down $3 million for a 'first picture' of the infant, and were also making headlines for ordering bullet-proof, bomb-proof vehicles to tote the child around in.

The one thing Kanye won't be doing is staying home to change dirty diapers. He performed alongside Travi$ Scott in August at the El Ray Theater in Los Angeles, and more tour dates are expected to be announced shortly.

College dropout to monumental success

After more than a decade on the music scene, Kanye West has certainly made a sizable imprint. He has taken home 18 Grammy Awards in several categories, shattered stereotypes and broken new ground for major-label hip hop artists. He has also produced hugely successful albums commercially and critically, both of his own performances and for others.

Kanye Omari West was born in 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia, but grew up in Chicago after his parents divorced. An English major at Chicago State University, where his mother, Donda, chaired the department, West quit school to pursue his music career full-time. He began rapping around The Windy City, then moved to New York in 2001. After his success as a producer for rapper Jay-Z, West went on to produce other stars, including Ludacris and Beyonce. But it was his own work that put Kanye West's name on the map.

West found fame as a solo artist with his debut album, "The College Dropout," released in 2004, which established his style of clever wordplay and sampling. The following year, West followed that success with "Late Registration," again a commercial and critical success, topping the Billboard 200, earning another Grammy and striking gold with the singles "Touch the Sky," "Hey Mama," and "Gold Digger," among others. Everything Kanye West touches seems to succeed, and his albums "Graduation," "808s and Heartbreak," and "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" have continued his trend of critical and commercial success.

On October 28, 2011 West teamed up with Jay-Z to tour under the moniker "Throne." The hip-hop supergroup crisscrossed North America on a 34-date Live Nation-produced run in support of their joint LP. The tour grossed $48.3 million on its North American leg, making it the highest-grossing hip-hop tour of the year.

West's next studio album is the highly anticipated "Yeezus."

Kanye West Discography

Album name

Release date

Mercy

2012

All of the Lights

2011

Marvin & Chardonnay

2011

H•A•M

2011

Watch the Throne

2011

Don't Look Down

2010

Christian Dior Denim Flow

2010

VH1 Storytellers

2010

The Joy

2010

Looking for Trouble

2010

Devil in a New Dress

2010

Christmas in Harlem

2010

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

2010

Power

2010

Lord Lord Lord

2010

Runaway

2010

So Appalled

2010

See Me Now

2010

Runaway Love (remix)

2010

Good Friday

2010

Take One for the Team

2010

Chain Heavy

2010

Power (remix)

2010

Monster

2010

Air Yeezy (Presented by Tapemasters Inc.)

2009

G.O.O.D. Morning, G.O.O.D. Night: Dusk

2009

Lollipop (remix)

2008

American Boy

2008

Love Lockdown

2008

Pro Nails Super High Shine EP

2008

808s & Heartbreak

2008

Sky High: Presented by DJ Benzi and Plain Pat

2008

Love Lockdown (Essential 5 EP)

2008

Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)

2007

Graduation "Bonus Tracks, Remixes, Unreleased" EP

2007

Graduation

2007

Mick Boogie, Terry Urban and 9th Wonder: The Graduate

2007

Alter Ego

2007

Good Life

2007

Can't Tell Me Nothing: The Official Mixtape

2007

Stronger

2007

Freshmen Adjustment, Volume 3

2007

Touch the Sky

2006

Freshmen Adjustment, Volume 2

2006

Wake Up Mr. West

2006

Gold Digger (High Contrast remix)

2006

Late Orchestration

2006

College Dropout: Video Anthology (bonus disc)

2005

Heard Em Say / Touch the Sky

2005

Gold Digger

2005

Heard 'em Say

2005

Freshmen Adjustment

2005

Late Registration

2005

Diamonds From Sierra Leone

2005

This Way

2004

Through the Wire

2004

The College Dropout

2004

All Falls Down

2004

Jesus Walks

2004

Unreleased Joints, Volume 4

2004

Early Enrollment

2003

The College Dropout Mixtape

2003

Chi Town Classic, Volume 2

2003

Top 10 Kanye West Songs

Rank

Track Name

Play Count

Listener Count

1

All of the Lights

470,530

139,427

2

Stronger

353,497

117,661

3

Power

359,364

105,528

4

Heartless

241,435

93,366

5

Dark Fantasy

247,396

85,396

6

Can't Tell Me Nothing

193,237

71,947

7

Love Lockdown

178,092

65,275

8

All of the Lights (interlude)

156,868

62,551

9

Hell of a Life

161,195

60,434

10

Who Will Survive in America

119,420

51,520

Next 1 Concert

News

February 23, 2015

First Date of Kanye & Rihanna Tour Leaked

Update 2/23/15 The rumors are true! Well, at least according to a leak on the LiveNation website, which is showing that the first date on the Kanye + Rihanna summer tour will be on July 25 in...*drumroll please*... Estonia! Sooo, yeah. Let's cross our fingers for some American dates to be announced soon. For now,…

Kanye West Tour Dates 2010

Update 2/23/15 The rumors are true! Well, at least according to a leak on the LiveNation website, which is showing that the first date on the Kanye + Rihanna summer tour will be on July 25 in...*drumr…

This summer was one for the books. Megastars in music aligned to bring us monster tours and epic collaborations, and plenty of our favorite artists came back from the dead (literally and figuratively)…